/ dɪˈpendənt; NAmE / ( BrE ) (also de·pend·ent NAmE , BrE ) noun
a person, especially a child, who depends on another person for a home, food, money, etc.
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (denoting a dependency): from Old French , literally hanging down from, present participle of dependre , from Latin dependere , from de- down + pendere hang.